ABSTRACT
The westward march of the pioneer gave to Americans a psychological twist which was to hinder the development of a socialized democracy. The self-reliant, aggressive individualism of the pioneer was the spirit of the American factory builder, town boomer, railroad wrecker, promoter, trust manipulator, and a long line of spectacularly successful industrial leaders. During the Conquest of the American Continent there was developing in Europe, as a result of changed economic conditions, a keen, assertive, individualistic captain of industry. In America, except the slave, all were imbued with something of the spirit that in Europe pertained to a few. Invention, scientific discoveries, improved transportation, opened the continent ever wider, and the optimism of America clung with invincible credulity to a belief in the inevitableness of progress. The crass, unbounded individualism of the practical American found its highest expression in private business and the quest of money.
